Posts Tagged ‘heirs’

At the risk of giving our loyal readers too many numbers to deal with too soon, there are basically three steps in selling inherited property, but only two of them are financial. Step one is to recognize the emotional ties that the heirs probably have to the property, and deal with them. Consider having a…

“A man’s Self is the sum total of all that he CAN call his, not only his body and his psychic powers, but his clothes, and his house, his wife and children, his ancestors and friends, his reputation and works, his lands, and yacht and bank-account.” – William James If that statement was true a…

Nearly all residential real estate transactions involve both a financial and an emotional component. For example, a motivated seller might take less money and a needy buyer might be willing to pay a little extra. But where inherited real property is concerned, the emotional factors are often much more prevalent. Strong emotional attachments are the…

The latest numbers are in, and they are not good for potential heirs in Massachusetts. According to a June 2016 Google Consumer Survey, less than 29 percent of Americans have up-to-date wills. The rest either have no will at all (63 percent) or have one that is so outdated that it is basically useless (9…

I want to write on a topic that can be divisive and emotional. Over years of experience in the real estate and rehabbing fields, I have seen this scenario play out more than a few times: when a property has fallen into disrepair and the owner dies, the home can end up becoming a burden…

Prince Rogers Nelson, known to his fans as Prince, passed away on April 21, 2016 in Carver County, Minnesota at his estate, Paisley Park. Largely because the singer died without a will or trust, the legal and financial questions that his death created are almost as unresolved now as they were the day his body…

All the people who claim to be Prince’s heirs must provide sworn testimony to support their claims, according to a Carver County, Minnesota district judge. The judge’s order requires prospective heirs to file an affidavit that answers a number of personal questions and provide a birth certificate copy. The trust company handling the estate can…

Occasionally, despite the best efforts of everyone involved, the heirs cannot agree how to dispose of property. In most of these situations, there are an even number of joint heirs to a piece of unimproved real property and they each have an equal share, so there is no effective way to break a tie. Sometimes,…